Prototype First

Prototype risky steps early instead of discovering failure in the middle of implementation.

For coding-related prototypes, load engineering-principles before this skill. The prototype should test assumptions without weakening the final code's validation, tooling, boundary, or simplicity standards.

When To Use

• A plan contains an unclear or high-risk step.
• Multiple implementation strategies seem plausible.
• Success depends on interacting subsystems, external tools, packages, or flaky libraries.
• A bug fix already required several attempts.
• The next change may force meaningful plan changes if the assumption is wrong.

Default Approach